The best way to speed up your skinning,do a bunch.You will develope a technique that works well for you. I use a loppers and remove the feet and tail before I start.Nothing special after that.One thing that helps a lot,several sharp knives--that is one major key to speeding up ,skinning. Tom

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If my feet aren't wet,I must not be trapping. Tom Olson

Amen Bogmaster...spoken as a true beaverman! Lopers for the feet speeds it up a bunch. I leave the tail on. Several knives is key. I like a sharp pointy one for zipping them open from the chin to vent. Some guys like cutter knives...I open them up between my fingers with the knifetip ...just as in gutting a deer. Don't cut them too deep with the cutter knife or you have a mess on your hands...been there, done that.

I really like my Dexter beaver knife. I use 3 of them..RAZOR sharp. When they cut hard at all...change to the next sharp knife. I just touch the area and it cuts like butter with a hot knife. You don't have to fight it..it should be effortless.

I use 6"x8" wooden blocks cut into wedges to stabilize them as I roll them. I'm going to make up a beaver trough...as I think this will speed that area up.

But...biggest thing. Practice makes perfect. After the first 100 it's easy...LOL. I'll skin 5 beaver to one coyote any day of the week!

1. Use a trough. 2. Have some sawdust handy to stop any bleeding3. Have a couple different knives (as Tom says)4. Find a knife sharpener that works for you and stick with it

Here's my process:

Beaver in trough....head to my right. Using small pen knife split from lip to tail.....make mouth cuts. Grab big knife, cut off feet and tail. Grab round nosed skinnning knife....skin one side to back bone...from tail to ear. When I cut around the neck I always get blood...so there's a breif pause when I throw some sawdust in. Grab beaver by feet and spin him around. If you do it just right, the hide that is skinned will end up over the far side of the trough and out of any blood that may have spilled. Skin other side to back bone....then tail to head. Cut off ears...pull, trim, cut around eyes, pull, cut....pull....cut pelt free from front teeth.

I use a trough that fits on a table instead of one with legs.....so my tools can go right under it. The bucket of sawdust is to my right....no reaching for anything. The only knife that get's sharpened alot is the skinner. The others get it once a week or so. I have used loppers.....but find a big knife is faster for removing the legs and tail. One quick swipe and twist....

That part just comes with practice. Once you learn exactly where you can cut without hitting fur it's quick.

I cut as far around the leg towards the back as I can....then the same on the tail side....then roll the hide over the stump...even though it won't go all the way....a couple small cuts and it goes....then I cut the backside. I leave a lot of the "ham" on the pelt....just what works for me.

I never skin a beaver the same day I catch it--unless temps are extremely hot.I lay them on their backs on newspaper,in a cool spot--garage floor,etc..By leaving them this way for a day or two,all the blood in the head coaggulates,thus ,no bloody mess when skinning. Another tip-When ripping from the top of the anus to the chin.Cut very shallow the first few inches--deep cut,will result in ripped castors. Tom

Edited by Bogmaster (01/28/0703:46 PM)

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If my feet aren't wet,I must not be trapping. Tom Olson

id really like to see a pic of someones skinning trough.The knife that has worked best 4 me is a scalpel from VanDykes with replaceable blades. when they start to get dull toss em and throw in another.

Ive never liked skinning trough's myself. I just lay mine on their back. Guess its just my system but a trough slows me down to much. Skinning one on its back I wont have to move it more than a couple of times. I start out with the beaver facing away from me then when I have it skinned all the way to the shoulders Ill spin it around to where the heads facing me. After that its time to flip em' over. Plenty of sharp knives and plenty of practice.

Average time is about 15-20 minutes.I let them sit overnight on their backs and skin them the next day but occasionally skin them on the ice when I have a long walk out. I grab the feet and twist them at the ankle or wrist joint and then slice them off with the same knife I skin them with. I leave the tail for a handle. I use a fillet knife that is razor sharp and keep it that way by taking a few swipes on a diamond steel a couple of times through out the process.I then cut from chin to tail and around the base of the tail. Next I skin one side to the center of the back from tail to chin and then do the next side the same way. Having more than one knife would probably make it faster but I am pretty attached to the one I use. Makes short work out of cod and haddock as well as beaver and otter!

I start them at about the sternum and go to the chin, then I go from the sternum to the vent. I agree...they definately skin WAY easier when they are cold.

I'm not as fast as some of the guys on here. But...I clean skin mine, so that might make a bit of a difference speed wise. If I were to leave quite a bit of the back meat attached to the pelt, I could speed it up considereably. But...fleshing is real fast when clean skinned...so that's what I do.

I cased skinned my first two beavers this year. Took about a half hour for a newbie. Used an axe to cut off all four feet, made a notch in both sides of the tail at the base so the beaver could be hung from the ceiling by a looped rope. Cut from sternum to base of tail and then around the tail to start. Kept pealing down from there until I was over the head. 75% of the skinning time was spent around the hips and shoulders.I got a personal lesson on how to do this by Nick Wyshinski.

Edited by Number17 (01/29/0701:41 PM)

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Nowadays it just don't pay to be a good 'ol boy.